The Ruby Sparrow
by Aura Rayne
Summary: I combined the chapters so they would be longer. the newest one is chapter 4. 6.24.05
1. Default Chapter

_Ruby-Rose is traveling to her grandmothers house to the advice of the bakers wife Lillian, it is said that her grandmother is a wicked woman but Lillian assured her that the stories are false, She is following an old trail through the forest when she comes upon a wolf who tells her that he is under a spell...  
_  
"You're under a spell?" Ruby asked flabbergasted,  
"I can talk can't I, you don't think that all wolves can talk do you?" The wolf sounded exasperated, "Like I said before, an evil witch put me under a spell."  
"Why?" Ruby asked, "What did you do to her?"  
"The world doesn't work that way," The wolf said sadly staring at her with very green, very human eyes. "I was on a hunting trip, I don't like to hunt but my Uncle forced me to go."  
"Forced you?"  
"He's Lord Varamont; he took me in when my parents disappeared 3 years ago. Anyway, we were out hunting when an old lady stepped out of the trees. One of the other men yelled at her to move and she turned us all into wolves."  
"What? Who exactly are you?" Ruby-Rose asked, "I've never heard of a Lord Varamont in my life and I never heard of an old lady who turns people into wolves either!"  
"Of course not," The wolf said scornfully, you're from Caravel aren't you."  
"Yes,"  
"I thought so. I'm Dyral"  
"I'm Ruby-Rose, my mother is obsessed with the color red," She explained  
"Why are you out here, Caravel is back that way."  
"Lillian, the baker's wife, sent me to find my grandmother; she sent something to her,"  
"Why does your grandmother live way out this way, wait a minute, does your grandmother live in a red brick house with green shutters?"  
"I don't know, I've never seen her before, why," Ruby began to walk down the path again but Dyral blocked her path.  
"That's where the witch lives, I'd be careful if I were you."  
Ruby began to feel annoyed; he was acting as if she was a small child who was wandering in the forest carefree and simplistic. "Well you aren't me and I would appreciate it if you would let on my way,"  
Dyral cast an anxious look at her and vanished into the trees as silently as he had come. Ruby-Rose continued on her way deep in thought.  
Her grandmother was her father's mother; he never spoke about her and left the room always when she was mentioned. The village children had told Ruby that she was a witch and had put a curse on her father but when she asked her mother about it, her mother had just shrugged and said that children say silly things. Even so, Ruby began to get suspicious, she watched he father closely and had actually begun to believe her friends. Then he got sick, now he just sat in bed looking worn and expressionless, she heard the doctors tell her mother that they doubted he would live much longer if this depression continued.  
Ruby was so unaware of her surroundings that she nearly ran into a large red door. Standing back, wide-eyed she stared at the house. It was huge. It was a full three stories tall with red brick and green shutters. Unfortunately, she didn't remember what Dyral had told her and she was so sleepy...  
  
Ruby opened her eyes; she was lying on a soft cot spread out in front of a large fire. The warmth from the fire made her feel drowsy but not so drowsy that she didn't see the old woman standing across the room stirring something in a pot.  
"Grandmother? She said timidly,  
"The woman spun and now Ruby saw that she was not quite as old as she appeared at first sight, in fact, she looked quite young.  
"Yes dear?" the woman said and Ruby took note that her voice was sweet as honey but had a tinge of bitterness on the edge.  
"Are you my grandmother?"  
"Of course Ruby dear, I understand your father is ill? He always was a weak one. "  
Ruby-Rose was no longer listening; she was looking warily around the room for she had just now remembered what Dyral had told her. The room itself was small, the cot was in the exact middle and on one side of it was a fire, on her right, was a sink piled high with dishes and on her left was a cauldron filled with some sort of smelly liquid.  
Her grandmother however continued, "You however were always strong." Then, glancing at Ruby, added, "Who was that nice wolf you met in the forest?"  
Ruby was caught off guard "Oh, that's just Dyral. At once she realized her mistake and tried to bolt out the door. 


	2. Dyral

AN: this starts when Ruby's grandmother was stirring something in the pot.

Dyral sniffed the air. He could smell smoke. He had started to go on his way but something about the smell stopped him. 'It's only smoke.' He muttered to himself, neverless, he turned and trotted back the way he had come until he reached the spot where the sent had first reached him. It was vaguely familiar with a hint of spice. (One good thing about being a wolf…great sense of smell) He could single out all of the ingredients though he couldn't identify them on the spot. It was probably the witch stirring up something strange again. If she decided to test it on something, he didn't want to be the one she caught. His mind drifted back to the girl he had met earlier, he wondered if she was actually the witch's granddaughter. Ruby-Rose she said her name was, that was a strange name. She had given a reason for it but he couldn't quite remember what it was. Curse this forsaken wolf shape, every day, she was forgetting more and more of his human mind as well as his memory of a human day.

Suddenly, excruciating pain struck his right arm. Arm? Looking down he saw to his disbelief that instead of a furry paw, a long flesh covered arm.

Within the next 5 minutes, he was almost completely human. (He was still a little hairy) his clothes were ripped beyond repair and his hair was tangled and hanging down his back. With relief, he noted that his dagger was still in his hilt and he had his boots, apparently the spell on him had been broken, but by who? All at once a shriek of rage erupted from the direction of the brick house.

Dyral spun – and winced as his neck popped – So perhaps the witch hadn't done the spell reversal. But if she didn't, then that meant that the girl in red must have broken it. But how could she break it? His head was all muddled from the spell. The wolf-now-man slowly got to his feet. He wobbled but didn't fall. Then, he tried to walk…

10 tries and 10 falls later he was walking (unsteadily, but moving) pretty well considering 7 minutes ago he had been walking on four legs and had a tail. He wobbled his way through the trees in the direction he thought the cottage was in. twice, he went the wrong way but found himself stuck in brambles. It was surprising how useful an excellent since of smell and hearing could be opposed to sight. He could see where he was going yet, he still ran into things. Out of utter silence it seemed he heard a bird chirping very close to him. A cottage was burning nearby. It seemed to be saying.

He frowned, was it _talking _to him? Just then, the scent of smoke hit his nostrils. Dyral stopped pondering and broke into a run; fighting his way through the bushes and brambles that seemed to leap in his way. At last the wolf-man reached the cottage. It was true, the cottage was burning, but if it was burning, where was the girl in red and the witch? He sniffed (he could still smell vaguely like a wolf) and caught the scent of another human. Inching closer to the inferno, he saw a bit of red cloth. Without thinking, Dyral plunged into the cottage. The heat was nearly unbearable, the fire must have caught from oil, but he was too preoccupied to notice. The girl in red, Ruby, was lying sprawled on the floor, he could see her chest moving meaning she was alive but she gave no response when he called her name. The witch was nowhere to be seen. There was no time to waste. Careful not to bump the sharp spindle that lay on the ground next to her, he lifted her up. She was as light as a feather and just as thin. Before he carried her out of the cottage, he saw by the fireplace half of a piece of parchment, ripped out of a book by the look of it. He bent awkwardly and set her down, slipped the half charred parchment in his pocket, lifted her up again, and fled the cottage just as the roof came down

_**Formerly chapters 4, 5, &6**_


	3. The first spell

Ruby was awakened by the sound of running water. It took her a second to realize that she wasn't lying on the cold hardwood floor of her grandmother-the witch's-cabin. Instead, she was on soft springy grass. Slowly, carefully, she sat up. She was in a small clearing, bordered on all sides by ancient oaks. Running through the center of the clearing, was a small, (but not tiny) stream.

"I see you're finally awake. 1 and 2/3 hours exactly if I'm correct." A voice said from behind her. Ruby jumped. Standing behind her was an unfamiliar man (well old teenager, 19ish) he had long brown hair that looked like it hadn't been combed in about a year. And it hadn't.

"Your voice sounds familiar, but you for some reason are not." Ruby looked perplexed. She had the feeling she could trust him, still, he was a stranger….

"You forgot me already? You just met me 2 hour ago!" he sounded genuinely surprised.

Ruby turned pale. "The wolf? But how, the spell..." Ruby stopped short as her memory of the immediate past returned, and along with it the realization of what her own grandmother had tried to do. She started to stand all the way to her feet but her knees buckled halfway through so it seemed logical to sit down again. It was more comfortable anyway she justified herself out loud.

"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of mental disorder." Dyral remarked grinning cheekily at her.

"How old are you? 2?" Ruby grumbled, crawling over to the stream.

"Dunno, I can't remember." He sounded serious and she glanced at him, startled. He laughed at her, "You are so easy to tease, that there's almost no sport in it."

"There's certainly no sport in having a broken nose." Ruby said crossly under her breath. She found a rather long stick lying across the stream. She gingerly lifted it out; there were several frog like things clinging to it. She grimaced and plucked them off. "Eew."

"What's that for?"

"To walk dummy, what did you think it's for?"

"The reason I asked what it was for was because I did not know what it was for-"

Ruby ignored him. But he didn't notice and kept talking.

"-Apparently know what things are for though or else you wouldn't have broken the spell. Though you're probably not as smart as you think you are-"

Ruby decided that her grandmother turning him into a wolf had nothing to do with wickedness at all. All at once, something he said caught her attention. "What."

"I said that it was smart to burn the spell book but dumb to miss the page you're spell…"

"_My _spell?"

"Of course!" he had an aura of arrogance that made Ruby want to slap him. "You don't think you slept exactly 100 minutes just because…oh my…. you do. Here, I have the paper." He dug in his pocket and drew it out, holding it between thumb and forefinger. Gingerly, Ruby stepped forward and took it from him. She spread it out to get a better light.

"Curse the…oh no…" she dropped the paper and stumbled backwards in horror. "She cursed me to be a bird? But why am I…" her sentence remained unfinished for at that exact moment, the paper hit the ground. The instant the scrap of parchment hit the ground, it burst into flames. As the two humans watched in horror, the flames gradually changed from a normal orange and red to a menacing green. Just as suddenly as the flames appeared, a cruel cackling filled the air. Ruby covered her ears with her hand and tried to kick out the fire. To her shock, as soon as she got within a foot of them, a tendril of flame licked out and touched her ankle. Instead of boiling searing pain however, she felt a cold prickly feeling travel up her leg. Ruby-Rose tried to back up but as she did so, her numb leg buckled under her weight and she crashed to the ground.

Dyral, seeing this event, dragged Ruby out of reach, (which was more difficult than he thought considering she was screaming obscenities and kicking him.

"you know, if you stopped kicking me, I could put out the fire faster."

"And if you put me down you stupid arrogant jerk I could put it out too." With that last comment. She kicked him where no male should be kicked and dodged around his whimpering form to the emerald blaze.

This time as she got near them (she didn't go closer than a foot and a half.) she lifted her forgotten stick that was still wet from river and began beating at the fire. Any normal fire would have gone out considering the stick was wider than it was, but instead of doing that, it emitted a foul black smoke that soon enveloped the entire clearing.

"Brilliant!" Dyral choked, "you take a fire that was two inches by three inches long and manage to get a clearing full of smoke. Just marvelous I say."

There was no answer. The reason for this was Ruby was bound and gagged hand and foot by smoke.

Ruby was getting sick of this. She struggled to free herself as the smoke seemed to get tighter and tighter around her, like a snake.

Flashback 

_8-year-old Ruby sat playing with her new kitten. Her parents had gone to the market to pick up some fresh fruit, at least that's where they said they were going. Why they both were going, she didn't know and had no interest in finding out. She was so lost in her thinking, she forgot to watch her kitten. Garnet, the cat, with a baleful look back at her mistress, scampered into the trees that bordered the cottage where Ruby lived._

"_Garnet! Come back!" Ruby yelled. She wasn't allowed to leave the yard unless it was an emergency. "GARNET!" _

_Further in the woods, the ginger cat sat washing ignoring the frantic calls, a shadow fell over her._

_Ruby sighed in exasperation. This qualified. She darted into the trees after her precious pet. The thorns scratched at her arms and legs as she pushed through the bushes. Finally, after at least 5 minutes of searching, and becoming utterly lost, Ruby sat on an old log to rest. It was rotten and broke, showering her with bits and pieces of wood. This was too much for her so she buried her face in her hands and began to cry. _

_Suddenly, she heard a noise in the brush, thinking it was her parents she stopped crying and sat up eagerly. Unfortunately, instead of her mother or father appearing out of the trees, there came an enormous snake. The girl had never seen a snake before nor had she heard of their trickery, but there was something that made her immediately distrust the creature. It was a foot and a half high and at least 10 times that long, but that was not what caught Ruby's attention. Neither was it the strange marking that covered it back, patterns that look uncannily like plaid. Instead of slitted yellow, red, or even black eyes, the serpent had icy, cruel, blue._

"_Hhhello child," it hissed in a syrupy voice, "May I assssk wwwhy you're crying?"_

_Ruby sniffed and replied in a voice quavering in fear, "My kitten's missing and I'm lost."_

"_Ohhh dear. I'm affffraid I have not ssseen your preccioussss cat, but I can helllp you find your way hooome."_

"_Oh thank you very much!" The 8-year-old clapped her hands together gleefully but did not forget her distrust. _

"_Followww meeee." Came the hiss and Ruby set off after the snake._

_The snake led her through the trees for what seemed like hours but must have only been about 10 minutes. Finally, they reached the edge of the forest where Ruby's house stood_

_To her relief, the Ruby-Rose could see that her parents had not arrived home yet. _

_"Your catttt hassss probably arrrrived hommme by nowwww." _

_"Maybe, she's a really smart cat." And then she added because it had been bugging her all along, "how come you can talk, are you under a spell?"_

_The snake rose up until it was about 4 feet off the ground. Ruby's height, as it did so. It grew taller and wider until it was twice the size it had been before. "No my deeaarrr, ii wassss ssssentt."_

_"sent for what?" Ruby asked, beginning to back away. But it was too late. Almost faster than she could see, the serpent darted forward and seized the child by the back of her dress. As it began to retreat into the forest, Ruby whimpered, "what are you doing? You said you'd take me back home!" she flailed helplessly._

_"Ayeee, I ssssaid I'd tttakkke you hommmme, I diddd noooot ssssay you could sssstay."_

_Strangely enough, it didn't occur to Ruby to scream. No one was around to hear her even if she had. Hers was the only family that lived this close to the woods. All their neighbors insisted that is was cursed and She was beginning to think they were right._

_"Where are you taking me?" Ruby asked, maybe if she had some idea what she was facing, she could have a plan._

_"To missstresssss." There was an unmistakable longing in the whispery voice as it said the words that filled Ruby with dread._

"Ruby? Ruby!" Dyral sounded frantic.

The smoke was in her nose and mouth, forcing it's way down her lungs. The foulness of it made her gag. Her mind was tingling; a queer buzzing sensation that though it wasn't exactly comfortable wasn't painful. Twisting and turning this way and that, Ruby managed to pull her hands free. Now that that was accomplished she moved to her feet. Now that the clearing was clearing up, Ruby discovered that the smoke that bound her was no longer smoke. Instead, sturdy, thick rope was wrapped around her ankles. She yanked the gag from her mouth, not surprisingly, it was cloth and rather well spun at that.

"Over here." She tried to say, but her voice came out as a rasping squeak, her throat was raw. Ruby tried a second time. "Behind you."

"How in the world…here, let me try." He produced a knife from somewhere, probably a boot, and within seconds had severed the rope. Ruby slowly stood up. All that remained of the smoke was a distant haze and even that was fading quickly. "What was that?" He asked as she gingerly took a few steps toward the pile of ash that had started the whole problem.

"I think it was a spell, one of my grandmothers no doubt." The thought made her bristle with anger. "I don't see any ill effect's other than that momentary unpleasantness."

Dyral snorted "well, do you think we can make it out of this forest without any more…mishaps?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"Yes, of course we. I have to get you back home because under my protection."

"Under _your_ protection? Why is that?"

Dyral looked confused. "Well, you're a girl of course."

"That's not a reason." Ruby retorted in an all too pleasant voice. "You're a boy, you don't see me insisting on _protecting_ you." Now he looked flustered. Good. He deserved it. Without a backwards glance, She walked off into the trees. Ruby knew she shouldn't have trusted him. She should have just walked out of that blasted clearing before he had said any more than hello.

With an angry sigh, he followed her.

The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was beginning to show pinks and yellows. There was no red in the sunset, but there would be soon.

From a cottage in the woods, an old woman and middle aged man watched to pair walk.

"They're falling in love already Edris," The man said softly, "This could cause a problem. They were supposed to hate each other"

"No worries Reuben, the sun is setting and many things could come to a new light. Or should I say darkness." Her laugh echoed through the trees as the first touches of red began to appear on the horizon.


	4. the second spell

"Ruby! Wait!" Dyral called as he ran to catch up to her.

Ruby grimaced and walked faster. The sooner she got away from him, the better. As she went, she thought back to the last time anyone had tried to get her attention; the last time she had heard that same line.

"_Ruby! Wait!" It was Kenan, again. He'd been following her for the past 3 days asking her if she would talk to Marigold for her. He was the fifth of her best friend's suitors in the past 2 months. All five of them had called on Mari, found her rather cold, and then turned to Ruby knowing she and Mari were rather close. Had been. Her former friend had accused her of stealing her men and ditched her; In the middle of the town square, just like Jack, Liana, David, and Michelle. Ruby was not going to chance it happening again._

No doubt, Dyral was exactly like that. Pretend to be your friend until someone better comes up. No, worse, he was a noble as well, and boy did he live up to it. Still, he was different. For one he was cute, that said more than any of the men at the village. She could not trust him.

He finally caught up to her, "You've not even been in the forest 24 hours yet you've already angered a witch, broken who knows how many spells, got a spell put on yourself, and modified it. If you think I'm going to let you wander around in here causing more havoc, you've lost your mind. Or maybe you just didn't have one to begin with!"

Ruby-Rose eyed him as she would a mosquito. She could not let herself fall for him. He would break her heart, stomp on the pieces and probably brag about it. Her stomach however, continued fluttering. "Sound's like I'm bad luck, and it seems like you've had enough of that wolf-boy. Maybe you should go back to your little castle and _leave me alone_." Why had she said that?

Dyral eyed her quizzically, where had _that_ come from? He had no time to ponder, for at that moment, the first rays on red sunset pierced the trees. It split into all the different shades of red and swirled together in a long pointed spear. Before Dyral could move, it lunged forward like a streak of lightning and plunged directly into Ruby's heart. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in an expression of utter surprise. Then, she vanished in a swirl of red fire.

After standing frozen for a moment, he sprinted forward to where she had been. As the magic cleared, all that was left was a small ball of red feathers. Then it moved. Kneeling, Dyral started to poke it with one finger then, thought better of it and used a stick. It whirled and snapped at him. The wolfman tripped over his feet backing up. When he sat up, Dyral found himself looking at small, bright red, furious sparrow. His mouth opened and closed a few times before a sound finally emerged. "Ruby?"

The bird replied with an earsplitting shriek and began to hop around in circles flapping madly. Dyral knelt and held out a hand. The transformed Ruby eyed it for a second before climbing on.

_Stupid spell, stupid witch, stupid wolf… _

Dyral jumped, almost dropping the bird. She squawked and dug her talons into his hand.

Was she talking in his head? There it was again:

_..almost drop me! Stupid boy! _

"Ruby, I can hear you!"

_ How can he hear me? I'm not talking...I can't talk; I'm a stupid bird! _

"Not out loud, in my head." Dyral stared at her, astonished.

_ In his head? Great, I'm stuck with a stupid wolf-man who hears voices… _

Dyral scowled, "I am _not_ a crazy wolf-man."

_ Really…wait, you heard that? Ahhhhh! You can hear my thoughts! You're a witch like my grandmother. Wait no, a wizard! Wait no! You _are _my grandmother! In disguise! Help HEELLP! she began to flail wildly with her wings._

"Ow!" Dyral cried rubbing his temples with his free hand. Stop yelling! I'm not a wizard, and I'm not your grandmother. This is just probably one of the after effect's of the spell." He looked thoughtful for a moment. That moment quickly passed. "If I read it right, that should wear off after a few day's and you'll just be a bird." He looked at her and added. "A rather unusual colorthough."

From the distance, a woman screamed.

AN: Bad cliffhanger. I'll think of a better one next time.


End file.
